Nothing to Fear but Fear himself
by firedrakegirl
Summary: Pitch is recovering after the events of the movie, and he visits a small town hoping to cause some small amount of chaos. He doesn't expect to what happens next. No pairing, no romance, no anything. Just some fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Pitch was standing in the woods licking his wounds after his defeat at the hands of the Guardians. He was near a small town, always overlooked on the map. The only reason he'd noticed it was because his globe of believers had two lights in this backwoods town, two very bright lights. He planned on visiting them and enjoying their fear. The last thing he was expecting in these darkened woods was for something to impact him hard around the middle and nearly knock him off his feet. His first thought was that the Guardians had found him and were going to finish him off. His second thought was that whatever had hit him was too small for that. He looked down to see...a young girl, maybe eight years old, hugging him tightly. Her auburn hair was pulled into little pigtails, and she wore a pink shirt and jeans. Her clothes were dirt streaked, and she held onto Pitch as if she'd never let go. A branch cracked and he looked up to see a woman lean against a tree and watch with laughter in her red eyes. He looked over her, taking in her scars, long hair the same color as the child who'd attached herself to him, and dirt streaked clothes. He was standing stiffly, unsure of what to do about either the child or who he assumed was her mother.  
The woman finally spoke after a few moments of watching with silent laughter. "Sweetheart, that's not what I meant when I said embrace fear."  
"I know Mommy. But he looked like he needed a hug." The little girl smiled up at Pitch. "Daddy said that hugs can cure most ills."  
"Your father also said to stop hugging strangers." The mother said, as if repeating an old argument.  
"Mommy! He's not a stranger! He's the boogieman!" The little girl was still hugging him as tightly as she could.  
Pitch realized that these were the two bright lights who believed in him, and yet weren't scared of him. Something inside of him cracked just a little and he hugged the little girl back. It felt good to be known without fear, even if that's what he had to bring to the kids.

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A/N: The characters that no one recognizes are my own. I don't own Pitch or the Guardians, but I do own Aimie (the little girl) and Krystal (her mother). A picture of the two plus the father (Clark) can be found here: earth13. deviantart art/ REQUEST-Family-Portrait-275412064 (just remove the spaces. Earth13 is an awesome artist and drew that for me!


	2. UPDATE

Hullo all! This is just a note to say there is a sequel to this and my other rise of the Guardians fic coming out. I haven't decided on a title yet, but it should be fun. There will be more mothering, more Pitch-love, more fluff. I am going to post a small snippet from it here to give y'all a sneak peak. :) You guys are all amazing, and have given these Fics so many favs! I love you all! And so y'all know: this story takes place ten years after Pitch's defeat in the movie. Aimie is now 18, though she's mentally older. That's what happens when you have vigilantes for parents. Aimie loves Pitch dearly. Enjoy the sneak peak!

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Pitch Black only learned to hate from his defeat at the hands of the Guardians. However, he learned a lot when he met a girl. She never hated, something she learned from her mother. Something he learned from her mother was that today was the girl's birthday. It'd been ten years since he met her, and while he didn't visit often, when he did he always felt better. She was one of the very few people who could see him. He sat on a bench that faced that simple house, waiting until all the guests left the party. Her birthday was in early spring, which meant he didn't risk dealing with that pesky Jack Frost. After all the guests left, he glided into the house through his shadows. He tapped the girl's mother on the shoulder while the girl wasn't paying attention. The mother's face split into a wide smile and gestured for him to move to the dining room before the girl noticed. He did, feeling better than he had in a while. This family was among his few believers. Ten years ago, he met the mother and girl in the woods. That was right after the Guardians defeated him. The girl was only eight years old then, out camping with her mother. She'd taken her mother's advice of embracing fear literally, and hugged him and wouldn't let go. It was the first time someone had hugged him for as long as he could then, he'd visited the girl and her mother on a semi-regular basis. After all, time flowed differently for immortals than for mortals, even mortals as unusual as his friends. He'd come to discover that the girl's name was Aimie, a fitting name for her, and her mother was named Krystal. At first, the father, whose name was Clark, didn't believe in him, despite the fact that his wife and daughter did. Pitch bowed at Clark as he walked into the room. Clark smiled widely at him. The three adults had planned this surprise for Aimie, who had been told that Pitch wouldn't be able to visit for quite some time.


End file.
